The planting material was developed in the company’s research centres, SMART Research Institute’s (SMARTRI) and SMART’s Biotechnology Centre, through an advanced biotechnology programme.

The new planting materials were developed following two decades of research jointly undertaken by SMARTRI and SMART’s Biotechnology Centre. They were developed naturally through conventional selection programme and tissue culture from elite palms.

These planting materials – Eka 1 and Eka 2 – are registered in Indonesia’s Catalogue of Seeds and were approved for cultivationon 21 April 2017 by the Directorate General of Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture. According to the company, they will enable the company to increase yields to the highest levels in the industry, without increasing land under cultivation.

PT SMART Tbk president director Daud Dharsono said, “This kind of breakthough is at the heart of our intensification efforts, which we see as essential to delivering sustainable production of palm oil to meet a growing global demand. We will continue to identify new technologies and accelerate the adoption of the latest modern techniques to enhance not only our own sustainable agricultural practices, but those of the industry as a whole.”

The company claims that they carry the potential of increasing the company’s crude palm oil yield to more than 10 tonnes of CPO/hectare/year at prime age (10-18 years) from the current capability to achieve around 7.5-8 tonnes/hectare/year under optimal weather and soil conditions.